Caskets are generally of the pivoting bar variety or the stationary bar variety. In pivoting bar type caskets, the elongated handling bars are mounted to the side walls and end walls of the casket shell via “swing arms.” One end of the swing arm is pivotally mounted to the shell wall and to the other end of the swing arm the handling bar is fixedly mounted. The pivotal connection of the swing arm to the shell wall is designed such that for display the handling bar lies adjacent the shell wall, and for use, i.e. transporting the casket, the handling bar pivots upwardly and outwardly so as to be easily grasped by the hand.
Stationary bar or “non-swing arm” caskets have their handling bars fixedly mounted to the shell walls. The fixed spacing from the shell walls is such that the handling bar can be easily grasped by the hand.
For both types of caskets, decorative covering hardware or a plate, sometimes called an “escutcheon” or “ear”, disguises the connection point of either the swing arm or the handling bar to the shell wall. For stationary bar caskets, the decorative covers can have a pair of holes, one in each side of the cover, which requires the decorative cover to be “threaded onto” the stationary bar by passing the bar through the holes in the cover. While traditionally fabricated of such metals as steel, stainless steel, bronze, etc., decorative covers may now be fabricated of, for example, plastic. Nevertheless, as used herein, the term “hardware” shall embrace all decorative plates/covers/escutcheons/ears, whether fabricated from metallic material or nonmetallic material.
It would be desirable to provide decorative hardware for stationary bar caskets that eliminates the need to “thread” the decorative cover onto the stationary bar.